Older Volunteers A Guide to Research and Practice

by Lucy Rose Fischer; Kay Bannister Schaffer

• ISBN13: 9780803950092
• ISBN10: 0803950098
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-02-25
• Publisher: Sage Publications

Summary

This review of research on recruiting, retaining and working with older volunteers provides a synthesis of 'best practices' based on case studies of exemplary volunteer programmes. The authors examine the range of volunteer roles and organizations, the motivation behind volunteering, techniques of recruiting and keeping older volunteers, as well as managerial issues such as developing training programmes.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
About This Book	xiii
Part I: Background
Making Miracles	3	(10)
The Age Revolution	5	(1)
Productive Aging	6	(2)
Opportunities for Older Volunteers	8	(1)
Why Older People ``Should'' Volunteer	9	(4)
Who Volunteers?	13	(15)
What Is a Volunteer?	13	(2)
How Many Volunteer?	15	(3)
Who Volunteers: A Demographic Profile	18	(7)
Who Volunteers for What?	25	(3)
Summary of Findings	26	(1)
Summary of Key Themes	26	(2)
Politics to Bake Sales: Types of Volunteering	28	(14)
A Typology of Volunteer Roles	30	(3)
Types of Volunteer Programs	33	(6)
Service Exchange Programs	39	(3)
Summary of Key Themes	40	(2)
Why Volunteer?	42	(23)
What Are the Motivations?	43	(5)
The Motivations of Older Volunteers	48	(3)
The Mystery of Motivations	51	(1)
People Who Help	52	(3)
The Social Context of Helping	55	(4)
Religion and Volunteering	59	(6)
Summary of Key Themes	61	(4)
Part II: Working With Older Volunteers
Recruiting Older Volunteers	65	(27)
Older Volunteers	66	(3)
How Important Is Personal Recruitment?	69	(3)
Some Caveats About Word-of-Mouth Recruitment	72	(1)
Running a Recruitment Campaign	73	(5)
Whom to Recruit	78	(2)
Community Ties	80	(3)
Recruitment for ``Strong Helping'' Situations	83	(4)
Problems in Recruiting Older Volunteers	87	(5)
Summary of Key Themes	90	(2)
Keeping Volunteers	92	(28)
How Much Turnover?	93	(4)
Picking the Right People	97	(4)
Making a Match	101	(3)
Why Do Volunteers Stay?	104	(5)
Why Do They Leave? How Volunteering Changes the Volunteer	109	(4)
The Problem of Burnout	113	(7)
Summary of Key Themes	119	(1)
Older Volunteers as Workers	120	(21)
The Importance of Quality	121	(2)
Like a Family	123	(4)
How to Motivate Volunteer Workers and Improve Quality	127	(5)
How Much Do Volunteers Cost?	132	(1)
Integrating Volunteers With Paid Staff	133	(2)
Volunteer Programs Require Adequate Funding	135	(6)
Summary of Key Themes	137	(4)
Part III: Special Topics
Ethics and Other Thorny Issues	141	(23)
The Ethic of Community Responsibility	142	(1)
Ethical Issues for Individual Volunteers	143	(1)
Ethical Issues for Volunteer Organizations	143	(1)
Older Volunteers, Public Policies, and Ethical Dilemmas	144	(1)
Why Volunteers?	145	(4)
Antivolunteerism and Other ``Isms''	149	(3)
When Volunteers Replace Paid Staff	152	(3)
``Exploitation'' as an Issue for Older Volunteers	155	(1)
Ethics for Volunteers	156	(3)
Volunteers as a Liability	159	(5)
Summary of Key Themes	162	(2)
Minority Elders as Volunteers	164	(20)
Defining Minority Status	165	(1)
The Meaning of Volunteering in Minority Communities	166	(2)
How Many Volunteers?	168	(2)
Voluntary Ethnic Organizations and Churches	170	(2)
The Case Studies	172	(4)
Understanding Older Minority Volunteers	176	(5)
Recruiting and Retaining Older Volunteers	181	(3)
Summary of Key Themes	182	(2)
The Benefits to Older Volunteers	184	(11)
The Benefits of Productive Aging	184	(1)
The Problem of Cause and Effect	185	(1)
What Are the Benefits?	186	(4)
Tangible Versus Intangible Rewards	190	(5)
Summary of Key Themes	192	(3)
Part IV: Conclusions and Implications
Thinking Strategically About Older Volunteers	195	(23)
An Untapped Potential?	197	(2)
Five Principles of Volunteer Recruitment	199	(3)
Creative Strategies for Recruiting Older Volunteers	202	(3)
Five Principles of Volunteer Retention	205	(3)
Two Principles for Working With Older Volunteers	208	(1)
Creative Strategies for Keeping and Working With Older Volunteers	209	(3)
Guidelines for Assessing Volunteer Programs	212	(3)
The Future of Old Age	215	(3)
Appendix A The Older Volunteers Project	218	(4)
Appendix B Sources of Information on Volunteerism	222	(7)
Notes	229	(2)
References	231	(14)
Index	245	(6)
About the Authors	251